Firefighters rescued two small dogs from a badger sett near Leatherhead on Tuesday.

Despite being stuck down the hole, near Bocketts Farm, for more than eight hours, the little dogs were unharmed.

The 14-year-old Jack Russell terrier and 16-year-old terrier-cross got lodged in the sett at around 7am on Tuesday (July 29).

Because badger setts are protected, Walton and Leatherhead fire crews had to wait for English Heritage officers to arrive at the scene and grant a licence for them to rescue the dogs.

The dogs' owner, who was walking her pets before starting work nearby, said: "One of the dogs is slightly senile and the other has arthritic front legs so obviously going down a badger hole was not their best idea.

"Luckily, they didn't go too far down so the badger setts were not disturbed too much.

"Considering they were down there for around eight-and-a-half hours, they are okay.

"When they got out they were a bit shaky but very happy to see land and light. They are currently at home resting, but otherwise absolutely fine."

A spokesman for Walton fire station said: "We used camera equipment to locate the dogs and had to dig the badger sett, which took four-and-a-half hours.

"We located the first dog and dug it out. We couldn't find the second one initially so we used the camera equipment again.

"The second dog was deaf and we finally heard it whimpering after we blew a whistle. It must have heard the high pitch sound.

"We didn't have any mechanical assistance and had to carry out the rescue by hand with shovels on a hot day."